The Israel Museum has bought more than 1,200 silver coins that were used in Persia in the 4th and 5th centuries and which includes several rare coins.

Referring to a rare silver artifact called the “first Jewish coin” because of the inscription of the word “Judea” in Aramaic, the museum’s chief curator of archaeology, Chaim Gitler, told the Times of Israel, “It’s the earliest coin from the province of Judea.”

The “Jewish coin” was reportedly found in the southern Hevron Hills, between Hevron and Be’er Sheva, and was bought by New York collector Jonathan Rosen, who agreed to donate his collection to the Israel Museum.

Although little known to people, the Nizamabad archaeological museum is one of the important museums in the State. Constructed in 1936 by VII Nizam as a Town Hall, this T-shaped heritage building was turned into a museum and thrown open to the public on October 24, 2001 during Indur Utsav celebrations.

It houses a number of artefacts and antiques representing the evolution of human civilisation right from Paleolithic to Vijayanagar times. The Museum is broadly divided into three sections namely archaeological, sculptural and bronze and decorative.

The archaeological section includes tools of Palaeolithic and late stone age (from 50,000 to 5000 BC), megalithic pottery and iron implements dating back to 1000 BC to 3rd Century BC, early historical cultural material of Satavahana times includes pottery, iron implements, beads, bangle pieces, terracotta and bricks.

Coins range from the punch to marked varieties (3rd century BC to British period). Gold coins of Vijayanagara period unearthed at Bodhan are on display. Chart showing evolution of Telugu script from 3rd Century BC to 16th Century AD is also preserved. A finely carved door jamb in red sand stone of Vijayanagar period is erected in front of museum.

Decorative section includes bronzes of Chalukyas to Vijayanagar times. Arms and armour including swords of different types, shields, chest plates, arrows belonging to Qutub Shahis and Asaf Jahis are on display. Zinc copper alloy of bidriware, shining silver, hukkahs, spittoons, flower vases, betel nut boxes are among the collection. Several kinds of weapons believed to be used by the Roman, Persian, Russian and Indian armies are also on display.

This museum located in the middle of the picturesque Tilak Garden is closed for repair works since three months. “As soon as we get permission we will start the works,” says K. Sudhakar, the museum in-charge.

Central Bank of Montenegro on 11 April 2012. Opened Museum of money thus launching a long-term project aimed at preserving and maintaining the historic and cultural heritage in the field of numismatic value in Montenegro. more here

If anybody plans to visit the Monnaie de Paris mint museum in Paris in the next couple of months ... forget it. Currently it is closed for renovation, but while the original plan was to re-open the museum in late 2012, the website now says "mid 2013".

New deadline! The building (no word on the museum) is now to be open to the public (phase 1 only!) by end October 2014, which probably means something like somewhere between November 2014 and May 2015. Well, that makes Paris a candidate for a WoC meet in 2016. Have an impression here.

Peter

« Last Edit: August 22, 2014, 08:25:59 PM by Figleaf »

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An unidentified coin is a piece of metal. An identified coin is a piece of history.

Apparently the Russian Money Museum in Moscow can now be visited too. It has had a website for a while, with some interesting stuff (including background info about minting technology for example), but I thought it was not open to visitors yet. Well, that has apparently changed, but the Russian and English versions of the Contact/Location/Opening Hours page are somewhat different ...

The Lucknow Museum is now setting up a modernised coin gallery that will be in addition to its existing treasure of over 1.75 lakh antique coins, rupee notes and medals dating back from the 2nd Century BC to 1947.

The centrally air-conditioned gallery will have multimedia and touch screens, besides an audio guide system defining origin of the coins produced by different kings and dynasties.

The gallery will put on display Indian coins from the earliest bent bar, punch-marked ones to those of Indian states, British era and independent India.

According to Mr A.K. Pandey, director, Lucknow museum, efforts are being made to turn the coin section of Lucknow museum into the most interactive corner for visitors, especially school-going children so that along with its antiquity, rarity and variety, the museum also becomes a popular learning centre with a modernised format of display.

It will also have large well-lit transparencies and dioramas depicting/narrating the stories of the making and development of various Indian coins.

“Our aim is to show visitors how the Indian currency system developed from cowrie shells to coins and notes through an audio guide with interesting pictures and portraits of kings who introduced different coins,” Mr Pandey said.

He said such rare artefacts are of more relevance today as along with entertainment, the coins are an authentic and rich source of information for researchers and those studying various aspects of ancient, medieval and modern Indian history including political and economic changes.

A huge painting of Oman Mint House welcomes visitors to the Oman Currency Museum at the sprawling Central Bank of Oman campus.

It shows various stages of coin production, where silversmiths smelt the metal, make coins, weigh them, and cart them to the Bait Al Mal, the state treasury.

“It is an imaginary piece of art on manual coin minting. The real exhibits here have been divided into three sections which will help you learn about the evolution of Omani currency and Oman’s history. Display cabinets are fitted with buttons and a screen. By pressing the appropriate buttons you can call up an image of the currency one wishes to view on the screen, together with details of its history,” says Ibrahim Ahmed Al Fadhli, curator at the Oman Currency Museum.

Coins that predated the Holy Mission of The Prophet (PBUH), and oldest coins minted in Macedonia, Greece, Rome, and India are the top exhibits in the category dedicated to the ‘Old, Islamic and Modern Currency’. But the surprise package here is the Byzantine Dinars and Sassanid Dirhams with Christian and Magian symbols. “Those coins were popular in Arabia as The Prophet (PBUH) allowed to use them,” says Ibrahim, who pursues his Masters degree in coins minted in Oman.

The currencies also give an insight into Oman’s global partners in trade and commerce. “Oman’s trade and economic relations with the rest of the world flourished after the ascension of the Al Busaid Dynasty. Commercial dealings were mostly done with Maria Teresa currency minted in Europe from pure silver. Traders also preferred currencies from other countries, including United States, Spain, Iran, India and East Africa,” says Ibrahim.

Legal tender notes of the Indian Empire, which were in circulation in Muscat and the Sultanate of Oman from 1927 to 1948, and Sultanate of Zanzibar and Pemba, are prominently displayed among the banknotes.

The museum gives due importance to the Omani currency, which was first issued on May 7, 1970 under the supervision of Muscat Currency Authority. “Those who visit the museum can see all the five issues of Omani currency and the changes they went through during the last five decades, including the name change from Rial Saidi to Rial Omani and the introduction of the Royal Signature of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos Bin Said,” he says.

The commemorative section has plenty of priceless medals and coins made of gold, silver and bronze, with themes ranging from wildlife to natural beauty. “Many of these coins commemorate Omani and international events, such as the call for childcare and the anniversary of the United Nations Organisaton.

Coins were also issued during the National Days and special years, such as The Year of Agriculture, Industry, Youth and Heritage,” says Ibrahim. But the important medal of the lot is the one that marks the 250th Anniversary of the Rule of the Al Busaid Dynasty of Oman. The medal carries the names of all Oman Sultans, beginning with Sultan Ahmed bin Said to His Majesty Sultan Qaboos Bin Said.

If seeing the collection wasn’t enough, coin collectors can also buy some of the commemorative coins, bank notes, and old circulation coins to take home.

Plan a visit

The Oman Currency Museum is inside the Central Bank of Oman campus. The facility is open from 9am to 1pm on weekdays. Visitors should carry valid identity cards (resident card, preferably) to gain entry. Big groups should take prior permission before visiting the museum. Entry is free for children while adults have to pay 250 baizas. Visitors can also watch a 10-minute movie on Oman’s monetary history in the lecture room.

Contact: +968-2477 7693.

Central Bank of Oman & Oman Currency Museum

The Central Bank of Oman (CBO), which began its operation on April 1, 1975, functions as an advisor to the Government in all economic affairs, especially monetary and financial matters, in addition to its established functions as the official bank of the government. It receives and accepts deposits as the ‘bank of the banks’ from commercial and specialised banks operating in the country and from foreign banks and international monetary institutions. It also provides credit to local banks, and handles issuance and control of the national currency.

The CBO launched the Oman Currency Museum on April 19, 1999 as a source of information for anyone who wanted to learn more about the monetary history of the Sultanate.

The money museum in Vilnius (Totorių gatvé 2 / 8, corner of Gedimino Prospekt, muziejus@lb.lt, http://www.lb.lt/bol_money_museum) is excellent for numismatic enthusiasts. The collection has several points off attention. There is a fascinating set of Lithuanian coins and banknotes that numismatists will enjoy for hours on end. It is superbly presented in movable, well lighted strips with explanations and labels in Lithuanian and English, with movable magnifiers. The collection of modern, shiny "coins", failed to excite me. It plays to the interest of the "invest and get rich quickly" crowd, which is not in the long term interest of real enthusiasts. The part devoted to the euro is aimed at Lithuanians and nevertheless good fun. I liked the silverware made with coins, but that is very personal. The part on coining technique was excellent, but really too small. The part on coins of other countries was unbalanced, too many modern coins and coins of big countries and too small to show an educational narrative. The thought is useful, but it should be executed in a larger place.

Some of the Chinese coins shown looked pretty suspicious to me. Lithuanian coins from older treasure troves were ghastly over-cleaned and need urgent curation. Fortunately, they were all concentrated in a few exhibits.

There is no documentation available in the museum. It has produced a very helpful catalogue of its coins of the grand duchy of Lithuania. This book is available in pdf format from the WoC bookshelf. Attached are assorted pictures from treasures in the museum:

Silver bars used as money. The notches are for cutting up the bar into small change

Silver jewellery and bars used as money. Parts could be used as change.

The palace of the grand dukes of Lithuania was destroyed by czarist troops and left to decay. What remained was covered by earth and planted with trees in communist times. On Lithuania's independence, the site was opened, extensive archeological work was done and the main building of the complex was rebuilt. The reconstruction has left parts of original walls and floors in sight. The archeological research discovered what was probably a mint in the complex.

The palace is now a museum and it is filling up with genuine artefacts and archeological discoveries on the palace grounds. Among the latter are some coins, some small hoards and a fascinating collection of minting tools, silent witnesses of better times.

Peter

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An unidentified coin is a piece of metal. An identified coin is a piece of history.

About 30 kilometers from Vilnius is Trakai castle. Like many historic buildings in Lithuania, it was destroyed by invaders and reconstructed (in 15th century style) only recently. In communist times, the castle slowly became home to a jaw dropping collection of coin hoards. Unfortunately, the coins are badly over-cleaned, leaving the silvers gleaming and the coppers red. Nevertheless, the most important coin types in the history of the country are represented. There is also a large collection of silverware with coins incorporated in the castle.

Peter

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An unidentified coin is a piece of metal. An identified coin is a piece of history.

A century old single storey building, situated in the heart of the quaint Rajshahi city of Bangladesh, has been preserving some of the most precious artefacts of the world. Some of these are so rare, they can be found nowhere else on earth. The building is known as Varendra Research Museum. Established in 1910 by Prince Sharat Kumar Roy and two of his friends Akshay Kunar Maitreya and Ramprashad Chanda, it is considered to be the oldest museum of Bangladesh. The museum is currently maintained by Rajshahi University.

The museum boasts of a rich collection of 4100 ancient statues, 5000 very rare Puthis (ancient Bengali and Sanskrit manuscripts written on leaves or wood) and ancient documents, many of which have no other copy and are not translated yet.

There are six galleries in the museum. The first gallery is full of ancient inscriptions on stone in different languages. It showcases the largest Bengali stone inscription ever found. Written in ancient Bengali, the plaque, carved at the time of Laxman Sen, the last Bengali King, reveals the lifestyle of people of this land during 10th century.

The second gallery reveals the lost world of Indus civilisation, the first human civilisation of the Indian subcontinent. These 4000 years old pottery shards, statuettes, earthen and stone utensils were found in the ancient cities of Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa. These are the only artefacts of Indus civilisation exhibited in a Bangladeshi museum.

This museum is also famous for its amazing collection of ancient Buddhist and Hindu sculptures. The superbly carved stone sculptures Buddha and hundreds of Hindu deities not only highlight the craftsmanship of ancient Bengali artists, but also they reveal stories from the distant past. Pointing to three sculptures Muhammad Zakaria, deputy director of the museum says, “Look at these three statues of Buddha; here Buddha is seen wearing cloaks usually worn by the ancient Greeks and also his hairstyle and face pattern remind us of ancient Greek sculptures.”

“The explanation behind this mystery is that these statues are carved by the sculptors who learned the art of stone carving from the Greek artists who came to India with Alexander the Great during his campaign in 326 BC. These statues of Buddha are very rare,” adds Zakaria.

Besides these, different kinds of weapons used by the medieval warriors, decorated tiles and mihrabs (prayer niche) from ruined ancient mosques, Persian records and manuscripts are showcased in the museum. The museum also has a rich collection of ancient coins which includes punch-marked coins from Ashoka's period (304-232 BC), gold coins of Sultanate and Mughal period etc.

Despite of having such rich collection, Varendra Research Museum is a victim of sheer negligence and has always been excluded from the development budget. “The Government does not allot a single penny for the museum except the salary of the officials. We have a severe shortage of storage and maintenance facilities. We have 4100 statues, 5000 manuscripts and around 20,000 coins but we can display only 150 statues, around 50 manuscripts and several hundred coins,” says Dr Sultan Ahmed, director general of the museum.

“We have no equipment to preserve these precious artefacts. Currently we are preserving the manuscripts in wooden shelves which can be damaged anytime by changing temperature and termites,” he adds.

Thanks to the aid of around 1.5 crore Taka from the American Centre, the museum is currently undergoing some renovations but it is still very inadequate compared to the facilities it needs. Varendra Research Museum and its precious collections are our national treasures. If utilised in historical and archaeological research, the unexplored artefacts of this museum could rewrite the history of Bengal even the subcontinent.

British Honduras memorabilia exhibit opens at Corozal House of Culture

Posted: Friday, December 4th, 2015. 2:29 PM CST

By Aaron Humes: Toronto’s James Lindsay, a frequent visitor to Belize and collector of Belizean memorabilia on the internet, has offered his private collection for public display in an exhibition opened this week at the Corozal House of Culture.

Lindsay has expressed the intention to donate his collection to the Belize Museum when it is finally built, and for part of the collection to be on permanent display in Corozal. The exhibition remains open until December 11.

Featured in the display are coins dating back to 1894 as well as Spanish coin stamped with the British seal for use as legal coin in the Belize Settlement before the first British Honduran/Belizean coins were made.

The exhibit recalls the Belizeans who fought for Britain in the World Wars, their legacy remembered in the names of streets in the Mesopotamia electoral division; the evolution of the press, as a Saturday Colonial Guardian newspaper front page had no news and only advertisements and a steamship schedule for imported goods from England and the U.S.; the Lindbergh landing at what is now BTL park; and photography and postcards displaying the development of our modern country.

The world’s oldest national public museum is now the world’s largest indoor Google Street View.

Users can browse the permanent galleries of the British Museum the same way they might look for the precise location of a restaurant on Google Street View. Image courtesy of GoogleBy Kristin Romey, National Geographic

Rare and unique coins, some of which have never been seen before, are coming to Tbilisi for "one of the world’s best” exhibitions of historical coins.

Starting this Thursday the Simon Janashia Museum of Georgia in capital Tbilisi will present up to 3,500 coins discovered in archaeological expeditions in what will be the museum's largest display yet.

The Numismatic Treasury exhibition will cover the history of how money moved on historical Georgian territory from the 6th Century BC to 1834.

The Georgian National Museum's preview for the event said the numismatic collection was "one of the world's best".

Some of the coins exhibited for the first time will include a historical local replica of gold stater of Alexander the Great, which dated between the 1st Century BC to 1st Century AD.

Other rare items on display for the first time will include silver and bronze icons from historical reigns of various Georgian monarchs.

The display will open on March 9 in front of invited guests including the Minister of Culture and Monument Protection of Georgia Mikheil Giorgadze, Georgian National Museum director David Lortkipanidze and exhibition curator Medea Sherozia.

The exhibition will then open its doors to the general public on March 10 and receive visitors permanently on usual museum opening hours.

Among the items exhibited for the first time will be a historical local replica of gold stater of Alexander the Great, dated back to the 1st Century BC to 1st Century AD. Photo by the Georgian National Museum.

A denarius from the reign of the Roman Empire's founding Emperor Augustus, dated back to 27 BC to 14 AD. Photo by the Georgian National Museum.

A Georgian coin dated back to the 12th Century reign of King David Agmashenebeli. Photo by the Georgian National Museum.

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It is our choices...that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities. -J. K. Rowling.